Machine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. A. J. LOOKHART.

CAN LABELING MACHINE.

No. 359,932. Patented Mar. 22, 1887.

INVENTOR flv ATTORNEYS.

N PEWiHS. mnmmho t-m, Washinglcn. D C

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.. A. J LOOKHART.

.. SAN LABELING MACHINE.

N0. 359,? 32. Patented Mar. 22, 1887.

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ATTORNEYS.

UNITED Snares Parent @rricn.

ANDREV J. LOCKHART, OF MARSHFIELD, OREGON.

CAN LABELING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 359,932, dated March 22, 1857.

Application filed February 16, 1886. Serial No. 192,117. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:-

Be it known that 1, ANDREW J. LOCKHART, of Marshfield, in the county of Coos and State of Oregon, have invented a new and Improved Gan-Labeling Machine, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of myinvention is to provide an improved automatic can-labeling machine, and the construction and combination of parts are as hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side view of my improved can labeling machine. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the same, taken on line a"- x of Fig. 1, certain portions being broken away to disclose the connection. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the machine. Fig. 4 is alongitudinal vertical sectional view taken on line 2 z of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view on the line 3 yin Fig. 3.

In constructing such a machine as is illus trated in the accompanying drawings, I provide an inclined chute, A, of which one side, a, is rigidly fixed to the bottom of the chute. while the other side, I), is adj ustably connected to said bottom by means of dovetailed connec tions, grooves being formed in the chute and corresponding projections being formed on the side I), which side, when adj ustcd to the proper position,is held in place by set-screws 0. About a third of the way down from the upper end of the chute there is a pastetank, B, across which I mount two rollers, E and G, the upper one of which is slightly larger than the lower one. The belt F is arranged over these rollers, which are mounted in adjustable boxes, as best shown in Fig. 1, so that a proper tension may be maintained upon the belt F. Beneath the rollers E and 0 there is a roller, E, which runs in the paste held by the box B, acting to feed said paste to the belt F, as will be clearly understood from an inspection of Fig. 4. In

order that the surplus paste carried by the roller E maybe scraped therefrom, I provide a scraping-knife, i, which is pivotally con nected to the paste-box and provided with an adjusting-screw, i, and with two extending arms, 2" 2 which fit close upon each side of the roller E. Motion is imparted to the rollers last named, and the belt carried by the rollers Band C, by means of a pulley, G, which is secured to the shaft of one of the rollers and driven so that the upper face of the belt F will be carried in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 3-that is, the belt is moved so that its upper surface will be carried forward in a direction contrary to that taken by cans in rolling down the incline of the chute.

Just below the paste-box the decline of the chute is broken by a gradual curve, f, so that the motion of the cans will be somewhat checked as they approach the label-box" H, which ismounted on shoulders d. (1, formed on the downwardlyextending projections d d of the sides a and b.

The bottom of the chute is cut away from f to f, and this space is occupied by the labelbox H, which box, it will be understood, va= ri'es in size in accordance with the length of the label to be pasted on the can, and in order that the spaces from f to f may be filled, I provide the upper end of the label-box with upwardly-extending tracks 6 6, while below the box I fasten adjustable tracks 9 to each side of the chute. These tracks g are hinged to the side of the chute at g by a round hinge, so that the upper face of the tracks will be flush with the upper face of the lower section ofthe chute. Each of the tracks 9 is pro vided with an extensible rail, 9", connection between 9 and {1" being made in any manner desired-as, for instance, by forming the section g with a longitudinal slot, through which a set-screw is passed for the purpose of bind ing the parts togetheuthe parts being so proportioned that the section g" may be extended tomeet thelower edge of the top of the smallest label-box to which the chute is adapted.

, It will be noticed that the top of the labelbox is inclined in a drection contrary to that of the general incline of the chute, so that the smaller cans,which of course have less momentum than the larger ones,do not have so much of an incline to climb as do the larger cans. The bottom h of the label-box is movable and arranged so as to be raised step by step as the labels are taken up by the cans in their passage down the chute, as will be hereinafter more fully described, it being understood that the the upper and lower edges of the pile of labels by spiral springs o r,each flap projecting somewhat above the edge of the pile. The upper flap, t, is provided with two curved wings or projections, a it, upon which the cans strike as they pass down the chute, thus throwing the flap down to a level with the tracks 6 on which the can rolls, sothat the can strikes the pile of labels without a jar.

Immediately after the can has passed the flap;

tthe springs 1; act to return the flap to the position shown in Fig. 4. When the can strikes the flap t, the upper face of which is somewhat curved, that flap is depressed to permit of the passage of the can. From this construction it follows that all displacement of the labels is prevented, for when the labels are forced slightly forward as the cans roll over them they will be at once returned by the springing back of the flap 15,- but when such flap springs back the flapt will be in position to prevent the labels being driven too far toward the upper end of the chute. As the labels are slightly narrower than the cans,the label-box must necessarilybe narrower than the chute, thus leaving a space between the sides of the labels and the sides of the chute, so that if the labels were not held against a side movement they would vary from a true line.

In order that the pile of labels may be held straight and parallel with the general line of the chute, I place two springs, s 8, upon each side of the label-box, said springs consisting of thin steel springs, preferably about an eighth of an inch wide, set in the sides of the label-box at an angle of about thirty degrees in the direction the can rolls, said springs being flush with'the inner face of the box. The la: bels ride above the top of the box or are held in line by these springs s, which are so light that when. the can passes downward through the. chute they are depressed and the weight of the can rests directly upon the pile of labels, the

springs resuming their position the instant the canpasses them.

In :order that the top of the pile of labels may be kept in substantially the same plane, irrespective of the number of labels removed from the pile, I provide such a mechanism as will now be particularly described. Upon each side of the chute I arrange a grooved way, Z, in which there is fitted a fine-toothed rack, L,

the two racks being united by arms 0 0, which.

project inward from the lower ends of. said rack. These arms 0 are slotted, as shown at )l,.31](1 united by a bolt, at, so that when the side 21 of the chute A is adjusted to the size of the can to be operated upon the bolt m may be loosened andthe arms moved in accordance with the adjustment of the side 11. The bot tom h of the label-box H is rigidly connected to the upper one of the arms 0 by a rod, 1).

and a continual upward pressure is exerted upon the racks by a weight, 1?, which is con nected to one of the arms 0 by means of a cord, 1), that passes over the shaft q, held by a bracket,

q, fixed to any immovable portion of the machineas, for instance, tothe bottom of the sideb. is arranged a longitudinal shaft, K, which carries a fine-toothed wheel,mr, that meshes with one of the racks L, while the other end of the shaft carries a bevclgear, r, which is engaged by a similar bevel-gear, 0, carried by a transverse shaft, N, whichlshaft also carries Upon one side of the machine there 7 an .escapement-wheel, Mu. One of the racks L may possibly bedispensed with; but, ordinarily, another set of gearing, (not shown,) similar to the parts indicated by K r r r", will be employed on the other side of the machine.

Over the escapement-wheel M there is mounted an escapement-lever, R, of whichlthe arm wis weighted, while the tripping-arm 20 projects upward through an opening, w", formed in the upper :portion of the bottom of the chute, so

that as the cans pass downward on their way,

through the ehuteth ey will trip the lever Ihthus releasing the arm 20 from engagement with the escapement-wheel M and allowing the weight I? to slightly elevate the bottom h of the labelbox H, and the parts are so proportioned that the bottom h is elevated about the thickness of a label each time the lever B is tripped.

Although not absolutely necessary for the proper working of the machine, I greatly prefer to have the parts so arranged that any portion of the circumferential surface of the can will come but once in contact with the pastebelt F; and to accomplish this end I form the bottom of :the upper portion of the chute so that it may be advanced downward over the belt and secured ;in theposition to which it has been adjusted, this being accomplished by arranging the parts as best shown in Fig. 5,

wherein the central section 0 of the body is shown as riding in a dovetail, groove formed l in the bottom of the chute. In Fig. 4 it is shown cut out at the lower end, to adapt it to project somewhat over the paste belt. This central section, ,0, mounted in a dovetail groove, as just described,is formed with two ridges, L- It, upon which the cans roll {until they reach theipaste-belt, the object of these ridges being to lessen: the friction, and thus increase the speed of the can.

Below the la bel-box the bottom of the chute is covered with felting or other yielding fabric, as shown at I, this felting or :yielding fabric beingso placed for a reason: which will presently be explained.

The operation of the machinelis as follows! The cans having been placed in position upon the ridges k k, so that their cylindrical faces rest upon said ridges, are allowed to roll down the chute, passing on their way over the face of the belt F,which, as above stated, is moved in a direction contrary to that in which the cans are rolling, so that the cylindrical faces of the cans will be thoroughly covered with paste, the amount of paste carried by the belt F being regulated by the scraper After leaving the belt F the cans strike the curved portionf of the chute A, and their momentum is slightly checked before they reach thewings n of the flap t. Passing over the pile of labels, the upper label will be taken up by the paste-covered surface of the can, and as the tion, with the label-box over which cans are rolled, of the depressible flaps t 5', having the wings a u, and springs?) 12, all said devices being placed at the end of said label-box and in the path of the cans, as and for the purpose specified.

3. In a can-labeling machine, the combination of the extensible tracks g g with the label-box and chute, as shown and described.

4. In a can-labeling machine, the combination, with a chute formed with an upper extensible section, a curved section, and a lower felt-covered section, of a paste-carrying belt, a label-box, and extensible tracks 9 9', substantially as described.

5. In a can-labeling machine, the combination, with a label-box provided with a movable bottom, of a rack, L, weight P, sheave q, cord 12, toothed wheel 1*, shaft K, gears r r", an escapem ent-wheel,and an escapement-lever provided with a tripping-arm, substantially as described.

AXDREXV J. LOOKHART.

\Vitnesses: v

A. IVL'CRAWFORD, P. O. SEVAR. 

